Hurricane Debby Flood Disaster Recovery

From Achieving the American Dream to a Nightmare

My name is Richard R. Napolitan. My friends call me Rick. I am going to tell you a brief story of how our family’s American dream turned into a nightmare in one tragic day. I am a 78 yr old retired public school teacher, coach, and high school principal with 34 yrs service. Lorraine, my wife for 56 yrs is also a retired medical office mgr. working for 28 yrs. I retired in 2002, and we had been living our well-earned American dream the last 15 yrs in modest ranch home with a mortgage in Sarasota, Fl. living off my pension and SS.

However, at 1:00 AM, Tues, Aug 6th the nightmare began. The 18” of rain from Hurricane Debby had overwhelmed the sandbags at every entrance and we had almost 2 ft. of water throughout the house. Outside, the 85 home Laurel Meadows sub-division became a lake 6ft deep. Apparently, it made the national news. The family was rescued by the fire dept. with a huge high water vehicle and taken to a shelter with only the clothes that could be jammed into a couple of gym bags then to a motel for the next 5 days before the water receded and we were

permitted to examine our powerless homes. We literally lost everything: all cabinets, granite countertops, ALL furniture and appliances, a car, and numerous personal items over a lifetime.

That’s when it really hit us emotionally; we realized we were homeless! Thank God, we found temporary housing through a great friend in Venice, FL .until Nov. and volunteers from Andy Lyman at Rotary International to help do “gut & muck” and put all our flood soaked possessions out in the street and helping demo all the rooms down to the studs so mold mitigation could begin so we did not lose the entire house.

The primary objective is to both restore our home and the equity value we had achieved before the tragedy. This was a man- made disaster for several reasons despite 18” of rain in 3 days. This area has always been a no flood zone so almost no one has flood insurance. It will take well over $150,000 to replace what was lost and regain some of the equity we had built over the last 15 years.

Here is the problem. At 78 I have some serious health issues, and when I die, Lorraine gets nothing. All she will have is SS. Until age 72 I had a term life policy to be her lifeline, but the premium became higher than my current mortgage. However, the equity in our home became her lifeline, because I have no stocks or bonds either. Obviously, if I secured a loan I could restore the house, but her equity lifeline would still be short the amount of the loan.

Lorraine and I worked very hard over 56 yrs together to achieve our American dream

with additional part time jobs and also earning advanced degrees. While we have done our share of helping others in need, we tend to be fairly private people, and I have never asked another person to help me provide for my family. To do so now is one of the most painful and soul-crushing things I have ever done, but I am reaching out for help for my family.

Thank you for hearing our story of an American dream to a nightmare, and while I never

ever (probably just like you) believed I would be in this position, especially at age 78, this phrase comes to mind, “There but for the grace of God go I”.